This past year was the first year that I was fortunate enough to work from my home. Working from my home has been a wonderful change for both personal and professional reasons. The only thing that caused a slight issue was the tax filing changes that I had to endure. The office in my home was now considered a tax deduction. I had to get some help learning how to deduct the things that are allowed on my federal taxes. If you are new to working from home and have a home office, this blog can help you learn what you need to know before tax time rolls around.
Hiring a bookkeeping company to handle your small business's books and tax preparation does not only offer the benefit of keeping your financial information organized and accurate, but it may also come with IRS representation services. IRS representation is vital for any type or size of company, and here are some of the reasons why this service is something you should have.
Your accountant can be held responsible for the work
When you pay a company to handle your financial information and taxes, you will still be responsible for any mistakes or issues the IRS finds with your finances; however, you might be able to sue your accountant for any financial loss suffered from this.
When you hire an accountant, you assume the company will handle things correctly, legally, and properly. It is their responsibility to do this, as long as you give the company all your information regarding sales, income, purchases, and expenses.
If the accountant fails to do this and there is a mistake, the accounting firm will have to handle fixing it if they offer IRS representation services. If you can prove the accountant was negligent, you could always sue the firm for any extra money the problem cost your business.
It will not consume your time
The second thing to understand about this is the amount of time it can take working through an audit or issue with the IRS. When the IRS finds a potential problem, they will notify you and may want to visit your business to look through your paperwork. You may need to gather a lot of different documents and locate specific items. If your bookkeeping company handles IRS representation, they will be the ones handling these tasks. You will not have to spend your valuable time searching for things or getting things organized, and this too is a huge benefit of IRS representation.
The IRS can be intimidating
The biggest benefit of having IRS representation, though, is probably the simple fact that you will not have to deal with the IRS yourself. The IRS can be an intimidating organization, and it can be hard to know how to properly deal with them. Accounting firms have experience with this task, though, and they are able to do the work for you. When a problem arises, the accounting firm will contact you and may need to ask you some questions, but you will never have to deal with the IRS directly, and this can be a huge relief for most people.
Bookkeeping services are available for all types of businesses, and they can include a variety of different services, including IRS representation. To learn more about these services, contact a professional such as Joseph Hanlon, CPA.
Share13 July 2016
